SC2 Legacy of the Void 1st year Anniversary: The Ghost and The Marshal
by izwan
Summary: A three chapters story I planned to commemorate the one year release of SC2 final installment. The event within this story is set before Nova Covert Ops and will contain a few aspect of the DLCs. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

" **Jim! Go… Go!"**

 **That was the last thing he heard before a blinding white light covered him. And the moment the light lifted off, he found that he and the rest of his men were thrown back into the Hyperion. The great big battle cruiser shook violently as he held onto the nearest console he could reach. From where he stood and through the hangar's opening, he could see the Spear of Adun, together with the Hyperion, was propelled away from the battle scene. Several blinding white light later and both ship found themselves drifting on the other side of the universe but still within the Alterian Rift, facing Ulnar.**

 **The Temple of Creation shook as it tried to control the huge amount of energy that flows through it. And little by little, it began to close. All the once separated triangular sides of the temple closed in towards each other and after a final burst of raw energy came out of the temple, sealed themselves together. The energy burst died down and Ulnar once again fell silent.**

 **The vibration died down. It took a while before everyone within the hangar managed to get back onto their feet.**

" **You okay, sir?" asked one of the marines as he grabbed the back of Jim's CMC armor suit and helped the commander to stand up.**

" **I'm okay, son," said Jim. He dusted himself off and walked towards the hangar opening and stared at Ulnar. He suddenly felt a sudden urge to go back into the temple and travel into the Void, just to find out what happened to her. But he did not know if it was possible to do that. He did not know how to activate the temple and even if he had the knowledge, he did not have the power required to do it.**

 **He was just a human.**

 **Jim sighed. His eyes were still fixed onto the huge construct. She was still out there, on the other side of this realm. He knew that. The only thing he did not know was whether or not she is still alive.**

 **His comm suddenly came to life.**

" **Commander? Jim?"**

 **Jim recognized that voice. "Yeah. I'm here, Matt. Waddup?"**

 **There was a sigh of relieve. "Thank God you made it. Where are you?"**

" **At the hangar," replied Jim. "How's the ship?"**

" **The ship is intact. It suffers a few major damages but it can still fly. I need you on the bridge, sir. Artanis wants to talk to you," said Matt.**

" **I'll be there in a minute," said Jim. "In the mean time, do a recount on all of our survivors and casualties. Send medics to attend to the wounded. I also need you to do an inventory list on all of our ammos and equipments. Make sure they're good and we have enough. Just in case. I don't want us get caught with our pants down. It's gonna be a long way back to civilizations and I just found out that I hate surprises."**

 **Matt chuckled. "Noted, sir."**

* * *

 _ **Hyperion's bridge, a few minutes later…**_

 **The blast door into the bridge opened with a loud hiss and Jim, after making a quick stop at the armoury and was now freed from his combat suit, walked in. On his way there, he made a mental note to ask the Protoss leader about the possibility of going back into the Void. He had a hunch that Artanis would say no, but it won't hurt to ask.**

 **Artanis, the Hierach of the Daelaam, or rather the image of him on the monitor, was waiting for him.**

 **Jim walked towards the bridge central monitor and greeted the Hierach. "Artanis," he said as he gave a slight bow.**

 **Artanis replied in kind. "James Raynor, I hope that all is well for you and your men."**

" **Well we did take quite a pounding from the battle," said Jim. "But yeah, we survived. At least what's left of us. A lot of my men died today, Artanis."**

" **And their sacrifices will always be remembered," said Artanis. "I want to thank you, James Raynor, for what you did. You have proven yourself time and time again, against all odd, and stood beside us against our adversary. We will always be indebted to you and I am proud to call you… my friend."**

 **Jim did not have any telepathic ability, but nevertheless, the feeling of gratitude emanated from Artanis washed over him like a heavy summer rain. "I did what I could," he said. "It's all about saving lives. That's what a soldier does and I'm a soldier. You and the rest of your kind owe me nothing. We were in this together." He suddenly paused upon realizing something. "Speaking of which… the Zerg. They ain't here."**

" **Yes. They're still within the Void."**

 **Jim walked closer to the monitor. "I've been meaning to ask you this, but is there any way to reactivate the temple?"**

 **Artanis did not answer at first. His glowing blue eyes stared at Raynor for quite a while. "You want to know her fate," he finally spoke a few moments later.**

 **Raynor let out a sigh. "Yeah."**

" **She may not survive the battle," stated Artanis firmly. "And even if she did, I'm not incline to reopen the portal and let her and the Zerg out."**

" **She killed Amon-"**

" **As a repayment for what she did!" said Artanis sternly. His eyes glowed even brighter, a well known signature of anger that boiled within him. It took a while for him to calm down and continue speaking. "And even then, that may not be enough. For the sake of everything, it would be better to let her and the Zerg stay in the Void. For all eternity."**

 **Jim was about to argue further when Artanis cut him off. "Do not let your feeling cloud your judgement, James Raynor. Do not let the sacrifice of your men be in vain. A lot of good souls died so that the rest of us who survive could see this day. Remember Tassadar. Remember Zeratul. Remember their sacrifices. Forget about her. Throw her away from the deep recesses of your mind. It won't do to continue to dwell in the past when you have a better future ahead of you."**

 **Jim shook his head. "It ain't gonna be easy, Artanis."**

" **I have full confident that you will be able to do it," said Artanis. "But if you fail, I will arrange for you to meditate within one of our temples on Aiur. Perhaps there, your soul can be heal. But you are a strong one, James Raynor. You will be able to heal on your own. I believe in you."**

 **It took a while before Jim finally nodded. Somehow, the Hierarch veiled threat unnerved him. he decided that it would be best to let the matter go for the moment. Besides, Artanis was right in a way. "I will do what I can. Thank you, Artanis."**

 **Artanis nodded. There were crinkles forming around his eyes. He was smiling. "And this is where we're parted ways, James Raynor. Let's hope that this won't be the last time we met. En Taro Tassadar. May Adun keep you safe throughout your journey."**

 **Jim smiled. "It won't be the last. En Taro Artanis."**

 **Artanis then signed off.**

 **Jim watched as a huge wormhole opening appeared in front of the Spear of Adun. The huge Protoss ship slowly entered the wormhole which immediately closed once the Spear of Adun was completely swallowed.**

" **Orders, sir?" asked Matt.**

 **Jim was about to speak when all of a sudden, he heard a deep mental voice within his head:-**

 _ **My friend James Raynor, it was not for nothing that I offered you a place within our sanctuary. Tassadar once told me that you are more like us than we know and I could see the truth in it. We shall meet again when the time comes.**_

 **It came from Artanis.**

" **Sir?"**

 **Matt's voice brought him out of his stupor. "Yeah, Matt?"**

" **Orders?"**

 **Jim paused for a moment. He turned his gaze towards Ulnar. The temple revolved lazily among the gas clouds that surrounded it. He sighed. He then back turned towards Matt.**

" **Let's go home."**

* * *

 **The engines were fired and the battle cruiser slowly drifted away. Jim stood and watched silently as Ulnar drew farther and farther away. He kept his eyes on it until it finally disappeared behind the thick gasses nebula.**

 **She left him on Korhal. But now, he will be the one who would be leaving her. It was not something that he wanted to do but he was left with no other choices.**

" **Goodbye, Sarah."**

 **To be continued...**


	2. Chapter 2

**Battle cruiser White Star, more than two years later…**

The Dominion Gorgon class flagship was accompanied by Veronia, a Minotaur class battle cruiser. Together, they both were on their way back to Korhal after a brief stint on Braxis. They got an urgent call from the newly appointed emperor, demanding the ships and its crew to report back to Korhal at once.

He sat at the small bar that was built within his quarters. A bottle of Scotty Bolger No. 8 sat on top of the table and a glass half filled with his favourite whiskey was grasped firmly within his hand. He had been staring at the glass for the last half an hour.

From the window, stars could be seen whizzing past by. Both ships were travelling at warp speed. It had been more than 48 hours since they left Braxis. It won't be long before they arrived within Korhal System.

He met Ariel Hanson on Braxis. The beautiful doctor cum researcher seemed to have moved on, now married to another researcher and had happily settling down on Braxis. Well, good for her. He knew that the doctor did have a thing or two for him during her stay on the Hyperion. But at that time, he wasn't ready for another relationship.

The White Star was nice change after the derelict Hyperion. His quarters, once belonged to Mengsk, was certainly luxurious. Fit for a royalty. A plush four poster bed sat at one end of the room. Near the window sat a midsize table made of oak like wood complete with comm and a holographic monitor. He even got a small bar all to himself and at the far end corner of the room, a jukebox once belong to Joey Ray, played hundreds years old country songs. A bowl filled with coins was placed on a small table right next to the jukebox. The engineers offered to modify the jukebox so that Jim no longer had to use the coin whenever he wanted to play something from the jukebox. The commander however declined, stating that putting coins into a jukebox was a tradition that should not be broken. Besides, he could easily retrieved all the coins used from the jukebox's coin box so he wasn't really paying for anything.

The ship was supposed to be Valerian's but the newly appointed emperor declined. He instead decided to hand over the ship to Jim. This was what he said when Jim protested:-

"You're not going to use the Hyperion, Jim. Not anymore. I won't have my best commander uses a broken down ship. I will have the Hyperion decommission as soon as possible. The White Star, together with the rest of the Dominion Alpha Squadron will be under your command."

When Jim argued, the emperor had this to say:-

"You have no problem operating the Hyperion and you shared more memory with Sarah Kerrigan onboard that ship. What's the different with this one? I will temporary use the Bucephalus. I already commissioned a ship to be built for my purpose. Once it is finish, the Bucephalus will join your fleet."

That was not the only thing that Jim declined.

When they reached Korhal after the battle within the Void, Jim expressed his desire to retire. He told both Valerian and Matt that he wished to go back to either Mar Sara or Shiloh. The emperor was understandably reluctant to let him go so both Jim and him had a long talk. Valerian told him that he was planning to appoint Jim as the new Admiral of the New Dominion military. Jim told him that he was tired and that his part had ended. He told Valerian that he will need a much younger people within his organization and told him to appoint Matt as the new Admiral of the Dominion military. Valerian agreed but only if Jim decided to stay.

"I need you, Jim," said Valerian. "I need both of you. You and Captain Horner are practically the only person in this whole universe that I can trust. Please. Stay. Help me rebuild the Dominion. Help me keep it safe. Help me so that I can keep my promise."

Jim needed a lot of convincing before he finally agreed. Matt became the Admiral per agreement and he became the commander of the Alpha Squadron.

General James Raynor.

He gulped the remaining whiskey within his glass and poured another.

The door into his quarters hissed opened. Jim looked up and saw Rory Swann walked in. "I thought I put a lock on that door," he said.

"Well good morning to you too," said Swann. The plus sized engineer walked around the bar table, carrying a huge bottle of what Jim recognized as whiskey. Swann gingerly placed the bottle on the table in front of him. "You're forgetting that I'm the brain of this ship, cowboy. I can open any door and lock whenever I want."

"Tell me again why I employed you in the first place?"

"Because your poor broke ass couldn't afford a proper engineer," answered Swann as he returned from Jim's personal cabinet, carrying a small wine glass. He sat on one of the available stool and uncorked the bottle. He offered some to Jim after pouring a healthy amount of whiskey into his glass. Jim declined. Swann took a gulp of his whiskey and refilled his glass. "And… you kinda saved my butt back then," he said moments later.

Jim just chuckled. "So we're even, huh?"

Swann snorted. "Hardly. You saved me only once. I saved your ass a hundred times. Without me, that old ship's head and tail would go different way every time you press the throttle. And who's doing all the repairs and patching up? Who's doing all the research for ya?"

"I get it, Swann. There's no need to rub it in. You know Valerian offered you credits, lotsa of them for your hard work back then. Why didn't you take 'em?"

"As a matter a fact, I did," Swann replied.

Jim's eyebrows cocked. "You took 'em? So why you're still staying? Why not go somewhere else? You know, with that kind of money, you could do a lot of things. Seek better fortune."

Swann finished off his shot. This time however, he did not refill his glass. He just placed the glass on the table in front of him and gazed into the distance. "Yeah I could do that," he said moments later. "But I'm done with mining. I'm done with prospecting. I wanna do something else for a change."

"Like what?"

"Maintaining a ship for instance," said Swann. He then grabbed that bottle of whiskey of his and poured himself another shot.

"You're already doing it," reminded Jim.

"Yeah I know," said Swann as he drank. "I'll leave once I'm bored. But for now, I'm staying. Besides, it seems to me that an out-of-his-luck cowboy is gonna need someone to watch his back all the time. And if someone is going to be his nanny, that someone is going to be me."

Jim laughed. "Alright, that's enough, Swann. You know you're insulting an officer."

"So what? You're gonna put me in the brig?"

Jim shook his head. "You know I won't do that. But thanks."

Swann smirked. He drank another shot and put the cork back to the bottle. "That's enough drinking for today. Another shot and I might ended up in the ship's fusion reactor." He took the glass and the still half full bottle whiskey to Jim's personal cabinet and placed them in it. "I miss the old ship," he said as he sat back on the stool. "I miss doing the repairs, ya know. I miss doing things the old fashion way. Don't get me wrong. This ship is nice. If you like to look at blinking lights all day long that is."

"Well, Valerian won't let me have it," said Jim. "He said the ship is too old, too broken down. In a way, I agree with him. One more hit and the ship is good as gone. I'm not going to risk my crew's safety just because of my attachment to it. Besides, the ship holds too many old, painful memories that I wish to lock away. Nah, it's better this way."

"So you're ready to move on," stated Swann. "Well, good for ya. There are still a lot of girls out there, ya know. You'll find one soon enough."

Jim smiled. Like Matt, he was fond of the old ship engineer and he trusted him completely. He gave Swann a pat on his back and said, "Thanks Swann."

Jim's personal comm suddenly came alive. "General Raynor?"

Jim spoke into his comm, "Yeah."

"We're approaching Dylarian Starbase, sir."

"I'm on my way, Mr. Vaughn."

Everett Vaughn, once a captain of the Bucephalus and a loyal officer to Emperor Valerian, now served onboard White Star as Jim's second in command in place of Matt Horner who was now the New Dominion Admiral. Valerian did offer him a promotion but Vaughn decline, preferring instead to serve at the frontline. He did make a request that he be placed under Jim. That request took everyone by surprise. Valerian nevertheless agreed and Jim, after seeing his performance after the Battle of Char, seconded it.

"I like that kid," said Swann as they both stood and made their way to the exit.

"Really? What about Matt?" asked Jim.

"Oh, I like him too," answered Swann. "It's just his idealistic nature that bugs me."

"Maybe we need a lot more people like him, Swann."

"Ideals and realities often don't go hand in hand, Jim. Don't forget that," retorted Swann.

Jim just rolled his eyes. "How can I forget. Let's just keep what we talked about under wraps, okay?"

"Sure thing, dude."

* * *

 **White Star bridge, several minutes later…**

Both Jim and Swann exited the turbo lift and entered the bridge. The rest of the bridge crew immediately stood up and gave Jim a salute.

"As you were," said Jim.

"General," greeted Vaughn. He stood from the captain's chair to make way for Jim.

"As you were, Everett," said Jim. He noticed the captain's embarrassment every time Jim addressed him by his first name. "When Admiral Horner was still under my command, I never addressed him by his title. Get use to it, son. And you don't have to give that chair to me. There's a reason why that chair was named the captain's chair."

"Yes, sir," said Vaughn. He proceeded to sat back on his chair.

Jim turned his attention to the front. Dylarian Starbase appeared prominently on the bridge front screen.

The Dylarian Starbase was once a Confederacy old installation, named the Dylarian shipyard. It was built during the Confederacy era and was located in the vicinity of Tarsonis, and was used to house Confederacy's battle cruisers. It managed to escape the Zerg onslaught on Tarsonis. It once again held on to its luck when Sarah, who decided to destroy the Dominion's major industrial planets and attacked Korhal head on, spared it. Its lucky charm stayed during the Hybrid Wars. The destructions of the Dominion industrial worlds did benefit the old military installation in some way. The newly appointed Emperor Valerian decided to upgrade its status into a star base and began installing factories used to build battle cruisers, various ships and weaponries.

The White Star began to make its final approach. It traversed through one of the star base ship lanes and slowly made dock at one of its port. Huge hydraulic arms extended and held the ship in place once the ship was in proper position.

"Everett. Open the ship wide communication channel," instructed Jim.

"Yes, sir."

Everett pressed a few buttons on his personal console. "Ship wide communication channel open, sir," he said moments later.

"Thank you, Mr. Vaughn," said Jim. He then began to address the whole crew of the White Star:-

"Crew of the Battle Cruiser White Star, this is General Raynor speaking. We're now docking at the Dylarian Starbase for resupply and during our time there, all of you will be granted a liberty pass. I will like to remind you that the liberty pass can be cut short if needed so I need all of you to be ready at the moment notice. You will be called when the time comes. Raynor out."

He then turned towards Swann. "Rory, I need you to maintain the ship's reactor on full operation. I have a feeling that we won't be docking for too long."

"Got it," said Swann. The ship engineer then made his way towards the bridge's exit.

Jim then turned to Everett. "Everett, work with the port guys and have the ship's provision stocked as quickly as possible. We may need to head out soon. I'm going to the planet side. Keep our communication channel open, just in case."

"Yes, sir," replied Vaughn.

With that, Jim turned and made his way towards the exit.

In a few minutes, his shuttle entered Korhal IV's atmosphere on its way to Augustgrad.

Little that he realized that someone he had not seeing in more than two years was waiting for him.

 **To be continued…**

 **A/n: Sorry guys. It's gonna be three chapters now. I promise it would be no more than three.**


	3. Chapter 3

**The Revelation**

The shuttle carrying Jim punched through the cloud as it continued its descend. At one point it began to level and continued to streak towards its destination high above Augustgrad skyscrapers. The Imperial Palace loomed far ahead.

For the whole journey Jim kept quiet. He gazed through the shuttle's window towards the city down below, watching the citizens of the empire's mega capital went through their daily lives. Ground vehicles traversed the super highways that snaked through the huge metropolis that covered nearly a quarter of the planet's landmass and high above the ground, aerial vehicles whizzed past by in an orderly fashion, following the preset paths already dictated by the Augustgrad's authorities.

It was indeed hard to believe that the city was once a site of a major battle that threatened to wipe out every man, woman and children ever to live on Korhal. Rebuilding effort post war was swift. Valerian's government took little time in ensuring everything went back as it was before. Augustgrad, and Korhal as a whole, cured within a year. Rebuilding efforts on other star systems under the Dominion administration were still ongoing but progress had so far being promising. A peace treaty had been signed between the New Dominion and the United Protoss. As for the Zerg, they had gone underground ever since. Even Char was unusually silent with no meaningful Zerg activity.

People would think that with the level of competency the new government showed these past couple of years, everyone would rally behind the newly crowned emperor.

Apparently not, however.

And basing from what he picked up on Braxis; that will be the issue that Valerian would want to discuss with him and Matt.

The shuttle finally entered the Imperial District. It descended even lower as it approaches the Imperial Palace. The pilot steered the shuttle towards one of the more private landing pads usually reserved for the government higher officials and royalty households. From where he sat, he could see Valerian and Matthew Horner were already waiting for him.

The shuttle landed, its ramp lowered and Jim disembarked.

Valerian was the first to come forward and greeted him. "It's good to see you back, Jim," as he shook Jim's hand and gave Jim a hug. "And I want to thank you for being able to return to Augustgrad on a short notice. I'm sorry for pulling you out of your mission," he said after releasing Jim.

"That's okay, junior. We're nearly done anyway. Hey, Matt," said Jim as he hug Matt in turn.

"Good to see you, Jim," replied Matt. "I take it that your journey went well."

"Really well, in fact. That's what happens when no one is trying to sneak up on you from behind," said Jim. He then turned his attention back to Valerian. "I figure this is about the Defenders of Man, is it not?"

Valerian gritted his teeth. "There are more to it than that. We should talk somewhere more private, Jim."

Jim nodded. "Lead the way then."

* * *

 **The Imperial War Meeting Room, a few minutes later…**

The door closed behind them as they entered the oval shaped room. A racetrack shaped conference table capable to host 14 people at a time sat at the center of the room. Additional chairs lined up the furthest wall. At the center of the conference table sat a holographic projector. In addition to that, a huge monitor screen hung at the front of the room. For a room that held such importance, it looked a little bit spartan, lacking additional equipments and computers sans the comm.

"Like I said before, it wasn't just about the Defenders of Man, Jim," said Valerian as the three of them took seat. He pressed a few buttons. A holographic image of planetary star systems within the Terran dominated space of the Koprulu Sector appeared above the conference table. There were patches of red within the predominantly blue image.

Jim knew what those red patches signified. "You mean the Zerg?" he asked. "Yeah we met them on Braxis. Three villages and two towns were completely destroyed before we managed to stop them. We scoured the whole planet to see if there're more of them. Found nothing."

"Probably just one of the brood, Jim," said Matt.

Jim however shook his head. "No. A brood could decimate an entire planet. The one we met were not even close to a quarter of a whole brood. Just a bunch of zerglings, hydralisks, overlords – that kind of stuff. It kinda strange. After two years of nothing, they finally choose to show up."

"It wasn't just Braxis, Jim," stated Matt. "Several planets came under attack. We managed to defend some of them. The ones we couldn't-"

"Were rescued by the Defenders of Man. Yeah I heard about it, Matt," finished Jim.

Valerian leaned forward towards Jim and asked, "Have you heard anything on Kerrigan?"

Jim once again shook his head. "No. Nothing. She could be anywhere at this time. She might not even be in this realm for all I know. She's a Xel'Naga now, remember?"

Valerian leaned back on his chair. "That's what you told us when you came back from battling the rogue Xel'Naga. But perhaps she would have the answer to our problem-"

"She got nothing to do with this!" Jim interjected. He became angry when he saw what Valerian tried to imply. "I told you before she's now a Xel'Naga. I told you before she had transferred the command of the Zerg to her one of her lieutenant – Zagarra what's her name – and therefore no longer responsible to any of the Zerg's action after that." Jim took a deep breath and began to calm down. "Me and my men together with the Protoss were the only one who managed to escape the Void," he slowly said. "The Temple of Ulnar changed state once we got out. It looked like it got permanently locked or something. Unless some miracle happened, there probably no way for her and the Zerg could get out."

Valerian once again leaned forward. "And you're sure about that?" he asked.

Jim paused for a moment.

"I tried to get Artanis to reopen the temple after we got out. He refused point blank. To be honest with you, I'm not so sure. Hell, I'm not so sure about anything. But there's one thing I know. I know Sarah more than anyone. I know she won't try to kill us all, no matter what her history said," Jim said moments later.

Valerian stood and walked a little further away from the table. He then turned back to face both Jim and Matt. "I'm not implying anything, Jim. All I said is that she could have the answer to our dilemma. That is all. She once controlled the Zerg. There are a big chance that she could control them again and force the Zerg away from any terrans outpost and settlement. That is why I asked you about her. Given your answer, we don't have that option, do we? Anyway that's the least of our problem for now."

"The least?" asked Jim.

Valerian nodded. "Yes. The least. A few of our Ghost operatives went missing, Jim. We don't know where they are or where they had gone to. A few weeks ago, I sent our top agent to investigate and infiltrate the Defenders of Man organization. We believe that they had something to do with the missing operatives."

Jim held up his hand. "Wait! You sent Nova," he stated. "I take it that she went missing too, did she?"

Valerian once again nodded grimly. "Yes. Unfortunately. Her last transmission came thirteen hours after she was deployed. After that, she just disappeared. And that's not all."

Valerian step forward and began to press a few buttons. The holographic image disappeared and replaced by high resolution images now projected on the monitor screen. "Artesia Prime. Brontes. Jotun. Sigmaris Prime. Urona Sigma. What you see here are the after effect of the devastation caused by the Zerg attack on these planets. There's more."

He pressed a few more buttons. All the images were magnified. Valerian then pointed towards each of the images. "See that?"

Jim got up and together with Matt, walked towards the screen. He squinted a bit at the images. What he saw took him by surprise. He saw an operative within each of the image. It was a female with long blond hair tied in a long ponytail. The operative had her goggle covering half of her face but it was not difficult to recognize who she was.

Jim stared at Valerian. "Nova? You're kidding, right?"

Valerian however shook his head. "The Zerg attacks began two days after she went missing, Jim. She was there, every time."

Jim crossed his arms to his chest. "You know I don't like her one bit after what she did but Nova betraying the Dominion? That's like saying the zergling loves to babysit babies."

"I don't want to believe it too but there you go. The press knows nothing at this point but if one word leaks out, there's going to be riot and chaos. I can't afford to have that, Jim. Not at this time. That's why I call you back," said Valerian.

Jim nodded. "I figure that you need me to do something. Alright, what is it?"

Valerian said nothing. Instead, he gestured towards Matt.

"We got a lead to Nova's where about, Jim," said Matt. "She's now somewhere within Sharpsburg, an old terran outpost established long ago on Verdona. We've sent some agents to infiltrate what we believe a Defenders of Man facility."

Jim cocked an eyebrow. "You guys already lost a few of your operatives and now you're telling me you'd sent more of them?"

"We are aware of that, Jim," said Matt. "The operatives weren't on a rescue mission. They were sent there to hack into their system and find a way to reach Nova remotely. That's all they need to do."

Jim held up his hand. "Wait! Where are you going with this?"

This time, Valerian was the one who answered the question. "We need to know where her allegiance lies, Jim. If she was, as we suspected, forced to do what she did, she will find a way to get back to us. I have no doubt that she will be able to free herself if she was kept imprisoned. If she somehow switches side, well at least we know. We just need to come up with Plan B."

Jim nodded in understanding. "Okay. So where do I come in?"

"We need you to wait for her," said Matt. "If she is still loyal, she will make contact with us. We need you to retrieve her. That's all."

"For how long? How long do I have to wait?"

"We have no idea but I figure we'll know soon enough. We'll alert you by then, Jim," said Matt.

"Alright. I think I have a plan. I'll do it. I'll have Veronia join the rest of the Alpha Squadron. One capital ship should be enough for what I'm going to do."

"Just so you know, I'm transferring Beta and Gamma squadron to you," said Valerian. "You're now in charge of the whole Dominion fleet."

That was the third surprise Jim had for that day. "Why? What happened to Carolina?

"General Davis resigned unexpectedly. She cited health reason for her departure," said Matt.

Jim sighed. "Damn that woman! You know I'm just a marshal," he said to both Valerian and Matt. "Commanding the Alpha Squadron was hard enough let alone the entirety of the Dominion Fleet. You guys must have fallen off your bonkers."

"You WERE a marshal. The feedback we got is that all of the Alpha Squadron's commanders like you," stated Matt. "And the commanders from the Beta and Gamma squadron are looking forward to being under your command. You made quite an impression, Jim. I'm sure you'll do fine."

Jim sighed. "It's not over yet. We'll talk about this later after I got Nova back."

"Fine. We'll talk later. How soon can you leave?" asked Valerian.

"In fifteen hours. Top," answered Jim. His mind was still reeling from the fact that he was now responsible for the whole of the Dominion Fleet and the security of the terran space. "The ship is currently under restock. We'll head out first thing tomorrow morning."

"Alright. Get some rest, Jim. We'll see you again tomorrow morning for final debriefing," said Valerian. "I'll give you any overnight update if we have any."

Jim just nodded.

The three of them exited the meeting room and made their way towards the landing pad.

"You know," said Jim. "This feels exactly like the time when your old man tried to bring down the Confederacy."

"I notice that as well, Jim," said Valerian. "I just hope that we could stop it before it's too late. We might have another Tarsonis if things got out of hand."

* * *

 **Jim Raynor's apartment, Imperial District, Augustgrad…**

He locked the door behind him and threw his back pack onto the couch. He then threw open the curtains, opened the glass sliding door and stepped into the balcony. Leaning against the chromed metal railing, he gazed towards the bustling city center of Augustgrad.

The five bedrooms luxury apartment was given to him by the emperor. It was fully furnished right from the start. All he needed to bring in were his clothes. It took him some time to get use to living in an apartment, let alone a luxurious one. The majority of his life spent living in ranches, army barracks and the cramped quarters within the Hyperion. He used to live a simple life. His apartment could cost him tens of millions of credits if he ever wanted to buy one. He was lucky to get it for free. But truth to be told, he preferred a one bedroom wooden house perched directly on top of the ground than a luxury apartment. He likes to be able to roam freely. He likes the feeling of being closer to the ground. He was a farm boy after all. The apartment he was in now offered none of that.

An hour went by. The sun hung low over the eastern horizon. Its light would soon be replaced by the ones coming in from the city that never sleeps and Korhal's moon.

Jim stepped inside. He picked up his back pack, emptied the contents into a washer/dryer located within the laundry room. He then went to take a shower.

The feeling of warm water flowing down his body was refreshing. It was a far cry from those ultrasonic showers he used to have onboard Hyperion and White Star. He came out of the shower fifteen minutes later, dried himself and began to dress. He was planning to have his dinner at the cafeteria located on the ground floor of the apartment building.

All of a sudden, he noticed something. He turned to look towards the bedside table.

"What?!"

The framed picture of Sarah Kerrigan went missing.

He frantically looked around until:-

"You still keep it."

He turned towards the source of that voice and his jaw dropped.

There, at the furthest corner of his bedroom, clad in a form fitting Ghost outfit stood a young woman with long flowing red hair tied in ponytail. She was holding the missing picture frame to her chest.

"Sarah?"

* * *

The girl walked slowly towards Jim, who stood frozen to the floor. She was still holding the picture frame to her chest. "You still have this," she said the moment she arrived in front of him. "After all these years."

Jim closed and opened his mouth several times but nothing came out. It took quite an effort for him to blurt out, "Is this really you?"

The girl said nothing at first. She walked towards Jim's bedside table and carefully placed the picture frame back to its original location. She then returned to him. She held his hand and brought them to her cheek.

From that position, he could see the girl's brilliant green eyes, her soft pale skin and her shiny, flowing red hair. He felt her soft warm skin on his fingers. No. _This is not a dream_ , he thought.

The girl seemed to know what he was thinking. "No, Jim. It is not a dream. It is me. I really came back."

"You read my mind?" asked Jim.

The girl tilted her head and cocked an eyebrow. Her pink lip formed a smile. "Telepath. Remember?"

Wave of emotions engulfed him. His hunger pang had gone. He spoke no more. Instead, he pulled the girl into his arm and held her tightly. He kissed her on top of her head and whispered, "It is you. It's really you."

She hugged him back."Yes. It is me, Jim."

Both of them stayed in that position for quite a long while. When they finally broke apart, Jim asked, "How?"

Sarah began to caress Jim's cheek. "It's a long story, Jim. I wish to do it justice. I will tell you everything, I promise."

She then raised herself to him and pressed her lips against his. It was a long and warm kiss. Something he had missed for a long time.

They spent the rest of the night sitting at the balcony, cuddling under the bright moonlight.

* * *

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

At 5.30am, Jim was awoken by the sound of his comm.

He grumbled and slowly opened his eyes and was surprised to find himself lying on the bench at his balcony. He tried to sit when suddenly he felt a warm weight pressing against his chest. He looked down and saw a jumble of red hair flowing all over his chest. Suddenly, he remembered.

Sarah.

He smiled. He tossed the red hair over from her face. She was still sleeping peacefully. Her pink lips formed a smile.

He shook her gently. Sarah mumbled a bit and continued to sleep. He shook her again, this time a little bit harder. Her eyes fluttered open. She looked up at him.

"Rise and shine, sweetheart," said Jim, smiling.

"It's still dark," whined Sarah.

"Yeah I know but I got a call coming in," explained Jim.

Sarah immediately raised herself from him.

Jim gave her a peck on the cheek and immediately went inside. There, on top the coffee table, sat his comm. Its light was still blinking. Jim took it and saw that the call came from Vaughn.

"Yeah, what is it, Everett?" he spoke into the comm.

The comm crackled. "The ship is ready sir."

"Alright," replied Jim. "I'll be there. Alert every crew member. I want everyone to be at their post once I arrive."

"Very good, sir."

Jim closed the comm and turned towards Sarah, who was watching him silently from the entrance to the balcony. "I got to go," he said apologetically. "I'm sorry. I wish we could spend more time together but duty calls. You can stay here until I get back."

Apparently, Sarah had other plans as well. She shook her head. "No I won't, Jim. I'm coming with you." She walked in and made her way towards the bathroom.

"No Sarah, you can't. You have to stay here. For your own safety."

Sarah stopped midway and turned towards Jim. "You're going to retrieve Nova Terra. You're going to need my help," she said sternly. "I will bring her in. Whether she likes it or not."

"But-, but how do you know?"

"I know everything, Jim."

Jim shook his head. "I can't let you. It's going to be too dangerous."

"Just like Mengsk when we're both still a part of the Son of Korhal?" asked Sarah. "You're right, Jim. It felt just like before. They're dangerous but it's nothing that I can't handle. If you and your men are going to make it out alive, you're going to need me."

She was about to turn around when Jim suddenly shouted at her. "I lost you once, Sarah! I'm not going to lose you again!"

Sarah once again stopped midway. She slowly turned back to face him. Without a word, she held her hand out. Jim's gun flew from his bedroom and into her hand. She grasped the gun and pointed it to her forehead.

And she pulled the trigger.

*BANG!*

* * *

"Sarah!"

He rushed to her but skidded midway and stared at her blankly. "What?"

Sarah was still standing. Blood oozed out from the bullet wound on her forehead and yet she showed no sign of pain. Instead she stared at him calmly.

"Sarah."

And there, right in his eyes, Jim watched as the bullet wound began to close until it finally disappeared, leaving neither scar nor any traces of it. The blood had also evaporated leaving nothing behind.

"I am still a Xel'Naga, Jim," Sarah spoke calmly. She raised her hand, the one not wielding the gun, and turned it this way and that. "I stopped being a human a long time ago. This is just my host body. I spent the last two years creating…, perfecting it. I know I can't return to you as a Xel'Naga so I made this. I have Narud and Amon to thank for that idea but still." She paused for a moment. She then lowered her hand and stared calmly into his eyes. "I return for a reason, Jim."

"And what reason is that?"

She closed in on him. Her long fingers caressed his cheek. "I'm the only Xel'Naga left in this whole universe and beyond. And if I guess it correctly, I am probably the first and only Xel'Naga that achieves immortality."

"Immortality?"

Sarah nodded. "All the Xel'Naga before me were organics. I'm the first and the only one made out of pure energy. There is no way I could die." She then reached down, cusped Jim's hand and brought it to her chest. "I don't want to spend the eternity being alone. That is why I came back. I know you're not the type who will shirk his duty. That is why I'm going to help you and once it all done, I want you to come with me Jim, and leave everything behind. I want to spend my life forever with you."

Jim however shook his head. "My lifespan is finite. You know that right?"

She leaned closer to him and whispered, "That could easily be arranged, if you let me."

"How?"

"Will let you let me? Will you come with me?"

Jim saw the plead in her eyes. He sighed. "Well, I do intend to leave everything behind after the War within the Void. Valerian told me not to. He told me that he still needed my help. I can't turn him down, can I? But yeah, someday I'm gonna leave this place and settle down somewhere." He looked around before returning to Sarah. "It will be just a small house for me."

Sarah smiled. "With small white fences. And little feet running around the house," she whispered.

Jim's eyebrows raised. "You can?"

Sarah instead caught his lips. A few moments later they broke apart. "We're going to have our own family, Jim."

Jim smiled widely. His face lit up upon the thought that he and Sarah would finally lived together and have their own children. He pulled her back into his arm and said, "You got me at the little feet. So, where do I sign?"

Sarah smiled satisfactorily. She did not answer. Instead, she reached upwards and once again caught Jim's lip. A glow of light travelled from within her and into Jim's body through their kisses. Jim's body glowed momentarily before the light dissipated.

They broke apart moments later.

"Woah!" said Jim. "What was that?"

"I transferred a little bit of my essence to you Jim. I tied your life force to me," answered Sarah. "You shall live for as long as I am."

"That explains it. It felt weird though. So can I do all the cool things you did back then?"

Sarah just chuckled. "No you can't. Not in a million years."

"Aw, shucks."

Sarah just shook her head and continued to smile. "I don't want to change you, Jim. I love you just the way you are."

Jim leaned forward and kissed her. "Well in that case, don't."

* * *

Minutes later, both of them were in the shuttle, heading straight towards the Imperial Palace. The shuttle pilot was taken by surprise when he saw a beautiful Ghost operative following Jim into the shuttle.

"You know, Valerian and Matt is going to have quite a fit when they see you, darlin'," said Jim, sitting beside her as the palace drew nearer and nearer.

Sarah just smirked. "Let them. And yes, I do have the answer to the Zerg problem he was having."

Jim smiled. He caught Sarah's hand into his and said, "Just like old times huh?"

Sarah grasped his hand in return. Her eyes glowed momentarily.

"Yeah. Just like old times."

 **The end.**

 **A/n: So that's it. I wanna say thank you to all who read this story. It's been a while since the last time my story had been published within the SC section. And thank you to Kellin09 for the reviews. I hope this chapter answers your question.**

 **I will return in due time for another SC story but it will depends on the feedback that I got. No point in returning if no one there to read it, eh?**


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